Dragon's Dance
by PaintedKoi
Summary: *UP FOR ADOPTION* A young orphan girl Get's pulled into the world of one piece. This is the story of her life in the world of pirates.
1. Chapter 1

I sat by the cracked window looking out at the dirty streets that surrounded the overcrowded orphanage. My hands blistered and calloused, skin bruised and cut. It was hard to believe I was only nine years old. I was worn and beaten from fights, dirty from lack of new clothes, and skinny as a twig from poor nutrition. The fights weren't my fault really. The other kids made fun of my white hair and green eyes. They said only freaks had dark skin and pale eyes. My skin wasn't even that dark. It was a nice caramel brown.

I was waiting for the old gypsy to arrive. she was the only person who was nice to me. She'd sell her wares here once a week and I would climb down the fire escape to visit her. But this time I had some money that I managed to pick pocket. She always has something interesting and she usually will give it to me at the end of the day if it doesn't sell but I always feel bad when she gives me stuff for free. So this time I will be her first customer.

I saw her round a corner and immediately jumped out the window to help her set up. She had her little tent set up and I was helping her arrange things. That's when I saw what I wanted. It was a very large fruit. It was shaped like a star fruit just it was as big as my head. It was red with a swirl pattern on its leathery skin. I grabbed the fruit and ran up to the old lady. I pulled the money from my pocket and grinned as she laughed and my eager expression.

"I will only let you buy the fruit if you listen to its story little one." I sat through a story about another world that was full of adventure, with pirates, marines, and bounty hunters. Then she told me about this fruit, how it had come from this other world and how although it gave a person great strength it also gave them a huge weakness. They would never be able to swim again. That part didn't bother me much seeing as I couldn't swim anyway.

"If you eat the Ryuu Ryuu No Mi then you will never be able to return to this world and you will carry the curse of the water. The only thing you will gain is the power of a dragon." I smiled widely at the old lady and without a second thought I bit down into the fruit. It was bitter and tasted horrible but I continued to eat it anyway.

I could care less about the power it would give me. Just the thought of leaving this horrid place was enough for me. I finished the fruit in minutes and then I started getting drowsy. I sat in a chair to get off my feet and felt the old lady put something over my head. It was a round lifesaver like you see in the old movies. I wrapped my arms around it knowing she gave it to me for a reason and drifted to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

:::Shanks' POV:::

I sat by the shore a bit farther away from the village than usual. We will have to leave the village in a couple of days and I can't think of a way to break the news to Luffy. He's a good kid but he's also very stubborn. Taking another sip of sake I looked out at the ocean. Everything seemed calm except for a little dot out on the horizon that wasn't there before. It looked as if there were seagulls hovering around it.

I carefully stood up and winced at the pain that ran through the stump of what used to be my arm. I pulled a small compact telescope out of my pocket and with a flick of the wrist it extended. I looked through the telescope and spotted the dot. It took a minute but it finally sunk in that I was staring and the image of an unconscious girl barely hanging on to a lifesaver. I dropped the telescope and ran back to the docks as fast as I could and stopped short in front of Ben. My one hand rested on my knee as I caught my breath. Ben simply raised an eyebrow and leaned against a post.

"There is a girl drifting out in the sea. We've got to go get her." I kept myself as calm as possible. Panicking wouldn't help the girl in any way. Ben nodded then we quickly made our way down the docks and hopped into a small dingy and cutting the ropes. Ben started to row the boat at a fairly fast pace towards the now steadily growing dot on the horizon.

We pulled up alongside the girl and I reached out to her but it was proving hard to pull her out of the water with one hand. I leaned over a bit more and wrapped my arm around her stomach and pulled her up into my lap. She was wearing a dirty and slightly ripped up brown dress that was a few shades darker than her brown skin. and her white hair stuck to her face. She was small and probably no older than Luffy.

Her hold on the lifesaver started to tighten as she started to stir from her sleep. They were slowly approaching the docks when she started to cough up some sea water and her weary green eyes opened. She look up at me and stared for a few minutes. She blinked once, then twice. She open her mouth to speak but I couldn't understand a word that came out of her mouth. I looked to Ben but he only shrugged not knowing the language either. "Sorry, I don't understand" I hoped she would know our language. At least then we'd be able to communicate, but no such luck because she looked just as confused as us.


	3. Chapter 3

Hey. I'm sorry it took so long to update but this month has been really hectic for me. And I've been trying to hide from certain friends who want to force me to get piss drunk just because I just turned 21.

* * *

><p>I was so confused. The old gypsy never said anything about them speaking another language. We were just arriving at the docks when I realized we were in a tiny little boat. 'What were these called again? It starts with a D. Oh come on I should know this one Papa used to talk about boats all the time. Dee, dim, ding, oh yeah a dingy. Why are we in a dingy?'. The two men had stepped out of the boat and the one with long black hair and a cigarette reached his hand out to help me. I decided I liked him. He smelled like papa used to. Like smoke, salt and gunpowder. I took his hand and he gently pulled me up onto the docks.<p>

I kept my hold on his hand as we walked into a small town with people bustling about and stores lining the street. I let my eyes wonder about in amazement. Everyone looked so happy, so carefree. Compared to the dirty streets and violent neighborhood where my orphanage was, this place was heaven. We walked up to a pair of swinging doors that looked like they belonged in an old western movie. I don't think they even fit into the category of doors.

The man with the straw hat pushed the door open and walked in. I peered in and realized that it was a bar. I felt the hand that I was holding pull a bit but I didn't budge an inch. I looked up at the man who smelled like papa as he looked down at me. He let out a soft sigh with a gentle smile on his face. He let go of my hand, crouched down to my level and said something that I couldn't understand. But many years of living in a seedy neighborhood taught me one thing, and that was to read someone's intentions through their eyes. His eyes held no ill intention, although I could clearly see the humor in his eyes. He held out his hand for me. Yet again I placed my small hand in his and watched his large hand swallow it as his fingers wrapped around mine. He stood back up and we walked through the doors into the bar.

Half way through the bar the smell of cigarette smoke became thick. My eyes started to water, and my nose started to tingle. I rubbed my nose in hopes that it stop the itch but it just got worse. I knew that I was going to sneeze, but what I did not expect was a hot burning sensation to rip through my throat and a huge plume of fire to come out of my mouth when I sneezed. Everyone in the bar was now staring at me with wide eyes. I felt a bit of fear creep up my spine at the thought of being chased away. But all my fears vanished when everyone started laughing.

Almost out of nowhere a boy about my age appeared in front of me. "Sugei!". Yet again I had no idea what was just said but by the look in his eyes he was happy about something. The boy continued to rant on and on until he grabbed his cheeks and stretched them out to arms length. My eyes bulged in surprise and without even a second thought I grabbed his nose and pulled back about a foot, his nose stretched easily with no resistance. "Cool!" The man with the straw hat smiled and ruffled both our hair before sitting on an old wooden chair.

He pulled the boy over to him and they started talking. At one point in the conversation the man with the straw hat pointed at me making the boy look in my direction. The boy smiled and ran back over to me. He stopped only inches away from me making me flinch at the close proximity. He put his hand to his chest, "Monkey D. Luffy" then placed his hand on my chest and seemed to wait for a response. Was that his name? that must mean that he wants my name in return. "Flora." He smiled even wider then before and held his hand out which I gladly excepted with a firm hand shake, a grin of my own spread across my face.


	4. My brother

****I'm sorry that it took me so long to get this out. I had so many computer problems. lost this chapter 3 times and had to rewrite it 3 times. Then my old computer completely crashed and I had to get a new it didn't help that between all this i had college classes and I'm still trying to find a job. I cant make any promises about when the next chapter is going to come out. maybe my writers block will disperse soon. hope you enjoy it.

**DISCLAIMER:**** I do not own one piece or any of it's characters. I only own Flora.**

* * *

><p>When Luffy was dragged out of the village by an old man I obviously followed. I wasn't going to let my only friend leave the village with out me. The old man didn't seem all to happy about me stalking them though, as he would yell in my direction and point back to the village, and in return I would just shake my head and keep on following. I didn't know where they were going but where ever Luffy went I would follow.<p>

We ended up hiking threw a dense jungle that was on a gentle slope upwards, but was slowly getting steeper the farther we went. I was starting to tire out, and soreness started to make itself know in my legs. After walking for about four hours non-stop the slope had turned into a rocky terrain where we had to maneuver over boulders and jump over crevasses. At this point I was starting to fall behind and I was moving much slower then before. Every boulder I climbed pulled on my aching arms and every jump made me feel like my legs would shatter.

Finally I stopped and just lay there on the rocky ground. I looked up expecting to see Luffy walking away oblivious to the fact that I wasn't following but instead I saw he was running towards me and the old man was waiting up ahead. The old man who always seemed to have a stern look across his face actually seemed worried. Luffy's face cut off my vision as he crouched down in front of me. He too seemed worried as he pulled me back up to my feet.

As I stood up my knees felt like pudding and as I was about to sit back down I saw Luffy crouch down in front of me, motioning for me to get on his back. The little voice in my head told me that I shouldn't. That I was just making this trip harder for him and that I should just give up and go back. But the selfish part of me wanted to stay with Luffy, to never let my first friend leave me behind. And although it's not the best thing to admit to, I let my selfish side win. I climbed onto Luffy's back and gave him a gentle hug around the neck.

Riding on Luffy's back brought old memories out of the dark corners of my mind. It reminded me of riding on papa's back, the old man who had raised me by the docks. He would always tell me stories about our seafaring ancestors and the lore of sea monsters and sirens. And he was always listening to some sort of music. He listened to all different types and said that a person's music reflects their soul. But there was always one song he would sing to himself every day. It was such a sad sounding song. I didn't really get the meaning of it until papa died. A sad song telling how all good things must come to an end. I was five when he died but I still remember everything about him and I pray that I will never forget.

After I fell out of my train of thought I found that like many times before I was singing papa's favorite song while I cried. The song known as "Wake Me Up When September Ends", I don't really know who sang it, but it was the only song I could remember by heart.

Feeling a slight jerk I looked up and saw Luffy smiling at me like always. I love that smile, cause it never fades, it's always there to make the saddest moments warm. It only took a few days but Luffy has become my crutch and if he were to break I would surely fall with him.

* * *

><p>After the trip to our new home the weeks flew by. My stamina had built up dramatically as Luffy and I chased after the older boy, Ace. We've can almost completely keep up with him now. We managed to chase him this far and we're not going to give up just yet. Luffy was a bit ahead of me and I heard him yell up at the huge tree that was up ahead. When I finally caught up Ace and another boy jumped out of the tree and they didn't seem too happy to see us. They were talking to each other and I got a really bad vibe off of them at the moment. What I didn't expect was to get tackled and tied to a tree next to Luffy. And like always Luffy kept smiling and laughing. That was until Ace said something that made Luffy freak out. The other pushed Luffy's head back as he screamed. But then voices could be heard coming from the woods. They quickly untied us and dragged us into the bushes. I saw some men come into the clearing with swords drawn.<p>

Ace and the other boy were talking when I noticed that Luffy was no longer sitting next to me. I saw him running towards the men and quickly chased after him. The big guy up ahead grabbed Luffy and when I heard Luffy start to scream for the second time that day, something inside of me seemed to snap.

The feeling that ran threw me wasn't pleasant. I looked at my hands and I could see brown scales rip threw my skin and my fingernails falling out only to be replaced by claws. And it felt like my skull was splitting as something made it's way out of my head. My teeth ached and my tongue went numb after a slight stinging sensation. I could feel the fire bubbling in the back of my throat.

I looked back up at the men just as one of the notice me. And at that moment all rational thought left me, the only thing I could think of was blood, the blood of the bastard that dare think he could hurt my friend, my brother.


	5. A New Life

I don't know what came over my but it seemed as if I were following the instincts of some wild beast as I lowered my head and ran at the man closest to me ramming him in the side. I heard a scream and some red splatter to the floor but I didn't pay it any attention as I made my way, running at the man who held Luffy. I don't remember much after that moment, only a flash of silver and a severe burning sensation pooling across my face before I blacked out. I don't remember anything past that point, just darkness and that hot stinging sensation slowly fading into nothing.

After I had woken up, I found myself sleeping next to a wounded Luffy and Ace sleeping on the floor nearby. Ace stayed with us for the week Luffy and I were recovering. He brought us food and changed our bandages but every time he undid the bandages on my face he would cringe and quickly try to recover it. What ever happened must have be pretty bad cause Luffy almost looked like swiss cheese when I first saw under the bandages and Ace never flinched at the sight of him.

What ever had happened luckily sparred my eye because every time the bandages came off I was able to open my eye and look around. Sometimes it would get stuck closed and I would pull it open. It was fun to watch Ace's face go a little green every time I did. For a while I was hoping Ace would give me a mirror so I could see the extent of the damage but he never offered one and I wasn't allowed out of bed.

I had noticed changes from my transformation left on my body. One of which were light little scars, hundreds of them, from where the scales had appeared. They were almost invisible unless you got up close to my skin or touched them. Also my nails were still claw like, my regular nails never came back, and if I had any scars from whatever grew out of my head they would be under my hair so there isn't to much to worry about with those.

After a month Luffy and I were free of our bandages and running around with Ace and Sabo. They were actually a lot nicer then I gave them credit for and they started taking turns teaching me how to speak and understand their language. Although sometimes I would purposely get it wrong to mess with them a bit. And in return I tried to teach them some of my language but they had a really hard time pronouncing some of the words.

* * *

><p>It's been three years since Ace left the Island and now that Luffy is seventeen he is leaving as well. And there is no way in hell he is going to leave me behind! I've been trying to find him all morning. So now I'm just waiting by his dingy with a bag of things and I wont let him on without me. After an hour he shows up with a bag of stuff and before he can get on the dingy, I block him.<p>

"Oh hi Flora! What's up?" Oh sure, act all cool; the stupid dope was probably eating the entire towns food supply. "I coming too!" the look he gave me made me want to punch him in the face and drag him onto the dingy with me. "I sew! Pirates fight and rip cloths! I even sing! You want musician, yes? Please! I want go too!"

Luffy started laughing at me. I could just make out him saying I sound like a five year old. At that point I got onto the dingy and sat there glaring at him. After a few minutes he finally stopped laughing and jump into the dingy with me. He gave me his goofy smile but that was not going to make me forgive him for trying to leave me behind.

"Don't worry! You were going to come anyway!" Wait… what? "I didn't think you were going to say yes so I was planning on grabbing you after I left the shore so you couldn't get away!" Oi… Not only was that cleaver but completely evil… I didn't know he had it in him. Only one problem with his plans though. "I fly baka…" He gave a cute pout and started mumbling about me being no fun.

In all reality Luffy hasn't changed much looks or personality wise. He's just a lot taller then me now considering I only stood five feet tall. My hair was also longer but I didn't like to let it get past my shoulders. My skin is a bit darker now because of all the time I spend outside and the wound I had on my face years ago left me with a very big scar running from my hairline over my left eye and halfway down my cheek.

"That makes you my first mate!" shock filled my system as I started to shake my head vigorously in protest. "NO!" I ignored the crestfallen look he gave me. "Not fair to other crew. I only sister and musician! Cannot be your first mate." He glared at me, but glaring at someone does not have the same effect when you are pouting.

"But I need a first mate!" I just smiled and calmly nodded as if I were thinking it over before looking him straight in the eyes. "Next mate be first mate!" And like an idiot he fell for it. His fist slapping down on his open palm as if he had finally figured it out. "Yosh! I have decided that the next member of my crew will be my first mate!"

At the end of the day, the villagers and the mountain bandits sent us off with a happy and tearful goodbye, as we began our journey as adults and true pirates. Our new lives start now, as we leave the past behind and look out to new horizons.


	6. Author's Note -Please Read-

Hello. I'm sorry I've never updated this story but my life has been hectic and personally I don't think I'm a very good writer. So I'm putting this story up for adoption. If you want to use my plot feel free to it, just let me know so I can see how it turns out. I am planning to make a, technically not a story, but a lot of plot bunnies put them on one page and let people at them. I have so many and not enough time or skill to dish them out. So I apologize greatly and I will let you know who adopts the story if anyone does.

Thanks for reading,

PaintedKoi


End file.
